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Neo-SF, 2064.

You're a young journalist trying to hack it on your own in Neo-San Francisco. It’s a tough city, but you’re a tough nut. One day you receive a package containing a beta version of the latest ROM, an intelligent device that has replaced all personal mobile technology. With the ROM lay a mysterious note from a close friend, saying that he had to leave the country immediately. Weird.

In 2064, ROMs are as common as smartphones in 2014, but you've resisted getting one up to this point. You don’t need fancy technology, and you don’t care if you're old fashioned like that. But now that you have one, your life dramatically changes.

Your friend worked for Parallax, which is the leader in customer-side ROMs since 2045 and a company that you’ve been curious about for some time now.

As you progress through the story, you'll discover and solve dark mysteries surrounding your ROM and the L.I.P.S. OS it runs on, as well as one of the top producers of the machines, Parallax.

And remember, you will meet many different kinds of people during your journey through the feral San Francisco that has come to exist in 2064. It is up to you to decide who to trust, who to work with and who to challenge in this harrowing journey through Neo-SF.

We’ve designed the gameplay to provide a fun, fast paced mix of adventure and puzzle solving.

Note: Please keep in mind that text speed and sound effects will be changeable and dialog is quick-skippable.

Be prepared for situations in which you make tough choices as you dive deeper into your investigation of Parallax and its ROMs. The game story consists of a prologue and will have five main acts… that's LOTS of entertainment!

Gameplay consists of puzzle solving and dialogue choices that will open and close parts of the story. For example (spoiler alert!), when you’re looking for a way into Parallax headquarters, you can choose to talk your way in, steal an ID card to sneak in, or convince a new acquaintance to help you hack through security.

Alpha footage running live in Unity during a Google Hangout on 11/18

Outside of the main plot, the game provides side quests and character arcs beyond the main investigation.

Our goal is to provide multiple paths and missed opportunities that will allow the game to be played multiple times as you explore the choices that you and your ROM make, and how they affect the world around you..

We plan to have a playable version of the game for you to experience at GaymerX2 in July 2014, and we're also offering a limited number of discounted badges to the convention, happening in (regular) San Francisco (July 11-13) as part of our reward levels!

We’ve worked with a bevy of musical artists including 2 Mello, Radiofred, Virt, Aethernaut and other amazing musicians, to come up with some really awesome music that matches the game's dystopian future - check out a few preview tracks from the game.

Neo-SF Nightlife

San Francisco Bodega

In Shadows

Follow My Trail of Fog

Future Strut

stardust

We've assembled a team of
veteran video game industry folks that are passionate about making this game unforgettable. Our programmers and
designers have worked on games that have actually shipped for companies
like Zynga, Cerulean Games, and Puppy Punch Productions, our musicians already make kick ass music, and we as a team know what it takes to get things done.

We'll also work with many
members of our community to make sure that each game character (queer or
non-queer!) is unique and authentic. We started GaymerX as a
community-based event, and through it we’ve made many friends who can help us
shape realistic characters of every creed. Plus, we love audience feedback and
will have hangouts for you to join in on!

We’re passionate Kickstarter backers ourselves, and get really bothered when Kickstarter projects don't ship their product. As you may have seen with our last project, GaymerX, we deliver on time and take pride in our work! Of course, if something unfortunate does happen, we will provide insight and transparency into the whys and hows of fixing it.

Breaking News! Every dollar that you pledge will be doubled by
Ouya, up to the first $62,064!

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OUYA WILL MATCH YOUR PLEDGE DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR

We're participating in OUYA's #FreeTheGames Fund, created by OUYA to support developers making new and creative console games. OUYA will match your pledge dollar-for-dollar up to your goal amount (and a max of $250,000), so help us get there and make a great game for everyone! To be eligible for this match, we commit that this game will be an OUYA exclusive for a period of time. To learn more about OUYA, go to www.OUYA.tv

--__--_-_--_--_-_-----_-__--_---__-_-----_---

Read Only Memories will be available on PC, Mac, Steamand OUYA ON LAUNCH DAY.

Read Only Memories will be available on iOS and Android devices six months after launch - with improvements specific to mobile.

If we hit our goal of $62,064, we have some really cool stretch goals that we're super excited to show you!

San Francisco Stretch Goals

$62,064 - GOAL!!! and Reddit AMA (really an AUA)

$82,064 -Linux port will be made and will be included with Mac & PC if you choose that option

$102,064 -Soundtrack OST available FREE to all backers over $20.

$122,064 - Art Book PDF available FREE to all backers over $20.

Thank you for supporting our game and reading this kickstarter! Please consider sharing with your friends! :D

Risks and challenges

Making games is a challenging endeavor and we've put considerable thought into mitigating potential risks. Our research shows that delays and unexpected costs hamper many game projects, and we've structured our project to avoid that mess.

We have a core team of passionate developers and designers that are dedicated to building this game. We're a small and lean team, and while we've gotten off to a great start we realize we'll need additional resources to make this game succeed. The core team will be supplemented by quality freelancers, ensuring a responsible and scalable production environment that is also extremely cost-effective and flexible.

We've decided to focus our skills on building out the game content and mechanics, and are using off-the-shelf technology solutions whenever possible. This means using the Unity engine which is a well-established technology platform for games. Unity provides independent developers, such as us, cutting-edge features while minimizing the technology risk.

Behind MidBoss Games, we have the experience of taking the GaymerX convention from a Kickstarter campaign (thanks to YOUR support!) to a reality. Over 2300 queer and straight gamers attended the 2-day convention in San Francisco at the Hotel Kabuki in August 2013. The convention was a huge success, and is coming back as GaymerX2 in July 2014! Putting together a convention and bringing an entire community together with extremely limited resources was an amazing experience, and you can bet that we'll kick ass again.

At the end of the day, we're a community-based organization and it's important for us to maintain clear and open communications with our community of supporters. We've set up reward levels that will help us engage with the audience, and will allow supporters to follow production progress through our social media channels.

FAQ

If you want to add a version of the game to your order, or you wish to gift a version of any kind (Ouya, iOS, Android, or PC/Mac), just add $5 to your order and then when we send out the survey indicate which version you want! :)

That's the wording we had to put in the Kickstarter to be eligible for the Ouya #FreeTheFunds Bonus. Don't worry though, we checked and we're within the rules to release same day on Ouya, Mac and PC (and linux if we hit stretch goals). Yay!

The game is played from the first person - you are playing you. You can choose your name and your ROM will ask you your preferred gender pronoun. Since the dialog choices will be your choosing, we hope that we can include a wide enough variety of choices to allow for your character to line up with your values - you can choose if you want to try to be deceptive, aggressive, or flirt with characters.Your sexuality and gender identity are your own and don't really effect the gameplay - It's more about if you can convince other characters why they would want to help you or if they like you as a person.

The perspective of the game will be like myst/snatcher where the character is never explicitly seen, the point being that we want you to feel like you're actually in 2064 and going on this adventure, and the interactions that you have and choose to reveal and say to your ROM and the characters around you that make all the difference

Absolutely! We want our game to be as available and as easy to access as possible. We know that people may pirate our game, and we'd rather that the pay, but we'd rather not punish paying customers with DRM! :)

Pledge $11 or more

Pledge $20 or more

458 backers

YOUR NAME IN LIGHTS: Your name/company/website in the credits + All Prior Rewards + **This level and those above also include all the $20+ stretch goal rewards including Steam Keys, Soundtrack and Art Book Downloads**

Pledge $29 or more

Pledge $32 or more

37 backers

BETA FORUM ACCESS - Wanna play ROM before anyone else? Wanna be a part of the beta forum and see beta builds, and chat with other early backers and have direct access to the devs and writers? Backers at this level and above will be invited to our ROM forums and have access to non-public beta releases! + All Prior Rewards

Estimated delivery:Sep 2014

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Pledge $39 or more

100 backers
All gone!

*EARLY BIRD* THE ROM SWAG PACKAGE: Read Only Memories Custom Beanie Hat + All Prior Rewards - (Save $10 by being an early backer of Read Only Memories!!!! <3)

Pledge $89 or more

BOTTOMS UP: We will name a drink at Club Stardust or Pub Crawl after you and will be made according to your recipe and available to all players+ All Prior Rewards

Estimated delivery:Nov 2014

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Pledge $199 or more

12 backers
Limited (8 left of 20)

ROM SWAG + VIP AT GAYMERX2: One Boss (VIP) Badge Voucher for GaymerX2 on July 11-13, 2014 + All Prior Rewards --- NOTE: From this point, all levels above $199 include a Boss (VIP) Badge Voucher instead of a GA voucher

Estimated delivery:Nov 2014

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Pledge $264 or more

7 backers
Limited (1 left of 8)

PORTRAITS MAKE ME: We will draw you or your character as if they were in the game and feature them on our website, ReadOnlyMemori.es AND mail you a version of it to hang on your wall!! + All Prior Rewards (You get VIP To GaymerX2, 2 versions of the game, beanie, stickers, and a portrait! wowowow)

Estimated delivery:Nov 2014

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Pledge $464 or more

6 backers
All gone!

ART MAKES ME: We will include a non-main character in the game based off you/your character and name them whatever you want! (within reason) + All Prior Rewards

Estimated delivery:Nov 2014

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Pledge $664 or more

1 backer
All gone!

WORK WITH THE TEAM & EARLY BETA ACCESS: You will be invited to a private group of <20 people who will be able to join in on group meetings, have access to a private forum to give feedback and play the game first and try beta builds and add-ons before anyone else. You will have direct access to the team and can use it to learn how the game is being made, give feedback, and play the game first! + All Prior Rewards

Estimated delivery:Nov 2014

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Pledge $864 or more

1 backer
Limited (1 left of 2)

ART + MUSIC MAKES ME: 2 Mello will mashup or write a track for you around any topic (within reason) or mashup your favorite video game/music tracks as long as there are instrumental versions available + All Prior Rewards

Estimated delivery:Nov 2014

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Pledge $2,064 or more

3 backers
Limited (1 left of 4)

STORY + ART + MUSIC MAKES ME: Engrave your name into queer gaming history. We will work with you directly to write out a dialogue tree or conflict branch within Read Only Memories + All Prior Rewards

Estimated delivery:Nov 2014

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Pledge $2,564 or more

0 backers
Limited (3 left of 3)

SPONSOR LEVEL: Your company or brand will be prominently featured in NEO-SF on a billboard, or own a building in the city. Haven't you ever wanted to own a building or have your logo in a game? BOOM DREAM ACCOMPLISHED + All Prior Rewards

Estimated delivery:Nov 2014

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Pledge $5,064 or more

1 backer
All gone!

LETS HANG OUT: We'll fly to you or fly you to us to check out all of SF and we'll give you the READ ONLY MEMORIES TOUR of the city and all the most inspirational and nasty places. + All Prior Rewards

Estimated delivery:Sep 2014

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Pledge $7,064 or more

0 backers
Limited (1 left of 1)

MAKE IT CANON: Although the main character's name will be up to the player, you can choose the default name of the main character - much like in Zelda where you can name Link anything, you can name our "hero" anything you choose as the default! Something that could work for all genders would be nice, but you're the boss! + All Prior Rewards

Estimated delivery:Sep 2014

Ships anywhere in the world

Funding period

Nov 13, 2013 - Dec 13, 2013
(30 days)

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